This help file is written in order to familiarize the user with the font, and why the key mappings were set this way. Please read the entire help file before using the font. Reading the documentation for the Hazzat font will make it much easier for the user, and faster when writing hymns.
Often you will see tip boxes marked by: . Please take the time to read them, as they are designed to give you tips on using the font.

About the Hazzat Font:

This font is made in order to make long Coptic hymns easier to learn. The idea is to put certain notes between the Coptic letters in order to follow along with the hymn. The hymn notes are not complicated. As a result, a person that doesn't know the hymn could not chant it just by reading the notes, but should listen to the hymn and be familiar with the melody, and the Hazzat font will guide the chanter through the transition points in the melody.

The Hazzat font is not a new idea, but it has been used by the Coptic Church (mainly the deacons) for a long time. However, this is the first time to be made into a font. The idea is to make the following feasible:

Store all hymns on the computer, instead of papers all around.

Be able to share these hymns with friends.

Post these hymns on the internet for teaching.

Make it look nice and uniform.

Set a standard for other fonts for the same purpose.

http://www.hazzat.com in the Fonts section for testing usability. Please send all feedbacks to Webmaster. You don't have to limit your feedback to be usability related, but feel free to send me any comments or suggestions about the font, new characters to be added, the help file, or anything that is on your mind.

This font is a freeware, to be shared by Copts and non-Copts all over the world. Just one request from author... Please share your hymns with everybody for teaching purpose. Thank you, and may God reward you.

Key Mappings:

Key

Symbol

Description

z

z

one note

first note extender

x

x

two notes

c

c

three notes

v

v

four notes

b

b

five notes

n

n

six notes

m

m

seven notes

q

q

one short note

w

w

two short notes

e

e

three short notes

r

r

four short notes

t

t

five short notes

y

y

six short notes

u

u

seven short notes

s

s

second note extender

d

d

third note extender

f

f

fourth note extender

g

g

fifth note extender

h

h

sixth note extender

Z

Z

one note (high)

seventh note extender

X

X

two notes (high)

C

C

three notes (high)

V

V

four notes (high)

B

B

five notes (high)

N

N

six notes (high)

A

A

second note vibrated (in place after character)

S

S

third note vibrated (in place after character)

D

D

fourth note vibrated (in place after character)

F

F

fifth note vibrated (in place after character)

G

G

sixth note vibrated (in place after character)

M

M

round note

a

a

change abruptly to next character

j

j

chant fast underscore (in place after character)

J

J

chant fast arrowhead (in place after character)

.

.

pause / breath mark

+

+

higher tone

-

-

lower tone

1

1

repeat one time

2

2

repeat two times

3

3

repeat three times

4

4

repeat four times

5

5

repeat five times

6

6

repeat six times

7

7

repeat seven times

8

8

repeat eight times

9

9

repeat nine times

0

0

zero

!

!

mark number one

@

@

mark number two

#

#

mark number three

$

$

mark number four

%

%

mark number five

^

^

mark number six

&

&

mark number seven

Usage:

Regular notes:

There are up to seven consecutive notes that could be obtained by pressing:

z for z (1 note)

x for x (2 notes)

c for c (3 notes)

v for v (4 notes)

b for b (5 notes)

n for n (6 notes)

m for m(7 notes)

Look at your keyboard and locate the letter "z". This is the key for 1 note. Right next to it is "x" and that's 2 notes. Then "c" for 3, "v" for 4, "b" for 5, "n" for 6, and finally "m" for 7 notes. Get the picture?

Also, you could combine 2 similar notes next to each other to make them longer. Here are 3 long notes for example:

cc 3 long notes

Or, you could combine 2 different regular notes to get the effect for different note length, such as:

xc 2 long notes then a regular note

zv 1 long note then 3 regular notes

Short notes:

Also, there are up to seven consecutive short notes that could be obtained by pressing:

q for q (1 note)

w for w (2 notes)

e for e (3 notes)

r for r (4 notes)

t for r (5 notes)

y for t (6 notes)

u for y(7 notes)

The locations of the 7 short notes are similar to the regular notes, but they are located on the top row. The notes start from "q" for 1 short note, and ending with "u" for 7 short notes.

High notes:

There are up to seven consecutive high notes that could be obtained by pressing:

Z for Z (1 note)

X for X (2 notes)

C for C (3 notes)

V for V (4 notes)

B for B (5 notes)

N for N (6 notes)

Note that the high notes could be obtained by using the shift key plus the usual key for the regular notes. As for the 7th high note, you would use the same key as the 7 regular since seven notes are the maximum number of consecutive notes you could have. So you would use the small letter "m" for that.

Again, the same idea with the regular notes, you could combine 2 consecutive notes to get the effect of different note lengths, for example:

XC 2 long notes then a regular note

ZV 1 long note then 3 regular notes

Regular Note Extenders:

Regular note extenders are used to extend any specific note in order to make it longer.

s for s (2nd note extender)

d for d (3rd note extender)

f for f (4th note extender)

g for g (5th note extender)

h for h (6th note extender)

Here are some examples for how you would use them:

cd 2 regular notes, and 1 long note (3rd note extended)

xs 1 regular note, and 1 long note (2nd note extended)

For the first note extender, use the same key as 1 note "z". As for the 7th note extender, use "Z" which is the key for 1 high note.

To extend any note, press the key above it. For example, press "c" for 3 notes, then the key right above it which is "d" to extend the 3rd note. Easy? 1st and 7th note extenders are an exception, see previous tip.

Vibrated Notes:

Vibrates notes are used to give the effect of a fast change in pitch (vibration) in a certain note.

A for A (2nd note vibrated)

S for S (3rd note vibrated)

D for D (4th note vibrated)

F for F (5th note vibrated)

G for G (6th note vibrated)

Vibrated notes could be combined with regular notes, or with other vibrated notes. Here are some examples that combine regular notes with vibrated notes:

xS 2 regular notes, and 1 vibrated note

cDcD 3 long regular notes, and 1 long vibrated note

xS S 2 regular notes, and 1 long vibrated note

(a space is placed before the second vibrated note)

xS D 2 regular notes, and 1 long vibrated note that goes up in pitch

(a space is placed before the second higher vibrated note)

In order to add a vibrated note to a regular note, press the shift key plus the key which is above the regular note key. For example if you want 2 regular notes, and the 3rd one vibrated you press the "x" key for 2 notes, then shift + "s" key to add the vibrated note which is the button right above it. Then if you wanted to extend the vibrated note to make it longer, you hit the space bar then shift + "s" again.

Also, here are some examples where the vibrated notes are combined with each other:

AS 2 vibrated notes

SDF SDF 3 long vibrated notes
(a space is placed before the second 3 vibrated notes)

Finally, here are some examples where vibrated notes are combined with both regular and other vibrated notes:

xSD 2 regular notes, and 2 vibrated notes

xSDxSD 2 long notes, and 2 long vibrated notes

Round Note:

I've included the round note only because I've seen it used by some deacons. Here's what it looks like:

M for M (round note)

I'll take this chance to remind you to send me feedback with any other notes that are widely used and could be added to this font. I still have many keys that are not used yet.

Special Characters:

To transition abruptly to next character use:

a for a (change abruptly to next character)

Example:

xav 2 regular notes going abruptly to 4 regular notes

ebocal qen3 regular notes going abruptly to rest of Coptic hymn

To notate a part to be chanted fast:

j for j (chant fast underscore)

J for J (chant fast arrowhead)

Place a lower case "j" after every letter of the word(s) to be chanted fast, then a capital letter "J" after the last letter to put the arrowhead. For example:

ebol qjejnJ The notation here is to chant the second word fast

For a breath mark or a pause/break use:

. for . (pause / breath mark)

Example:

cd.v c a pause or a breath mark between the first 2 set of notes

To notate lower or higher tones use:

- for - (lower tone)

+ for + (higher tone)

Here's an example of both notations:

cd.+v c The arrow notates for the 2nd set of notes to be higher in tone

cd.-v c The arrow notates for the 2nd set of notes to be lower in tone

For repeats use:

1 for 1 (repeat one time)

2 for 2 (repeat two times)

3 for 3 (repeat three times)

4 for 4 (repeat four times)

5 for 5 (repeat five times)

6 for 6 (repeat six times)

7 for 7 (repeat seven times)

8 for 8 (repeat eight times)

9 for 9 (repeat nine times)

0 for 0 (zero)

Here are some examples:

(cd.v c )3 repeat this 3 times

(cd.v c )7 repeat this 7 times!

(cd.v c )90 repeat this 90 times!!

To mark a certain part use:

! for ! (mark number one)

@ for @ (mark number two)

# for # (mark number three)

$ for $ (mark number four)

% for % (mark number five)

^ for ^ (mark number six)

& for & (mark number seven)

Note that to mark a certain part you hold down the shift key plus the number you want to mark it with. For example you want to mark number four, you hold down the shift key + "4".

Other than disabling the Autocorrect and the Grammar and Spelling check on your MS word, here's another helpful tip: When typing the notes for a certain hymn that you have, I understand it's a hassle to switch back and forth between the Coptic or English font and the Hazzat font. So here's the best way to do it:

1.Type the words for the whole hymn first

Copy a certain letter from the Hazzat font that you know you'll be using a lot, in order to place it in your clipboard.
Lets say you copy this: x

Paste the copied Hazzat character wherever you want to place a note. This will make MS Word have the Hazzat font automatically selected

If you don't want to use the x character where you pasted it, then you can hit the Backspace button and type whatever character you wanted instead. This will work because the Hazzat font will still be selected.

Limitations:

Here's a list of know limitations to the font so far. As feedback comes in, I might have to add some extra points to the list:

You can use the note extenders to extend one note only, but you can't extend the last 2 notes example or more

Due to the way that the notes are slanted, it makes the Hazzat font work only on Coptic and English hymns. As for Arabic hymns you will need the notes to be slanted to the left.

What's Next:

After releasing the final version of the Hazzat font, there will be some other projects that should be done:

Arabic Hazzat font

A Hazzat font standardization for any other fonts to come

Questions:

If you have any questions or want to send me any comments or suggestions, please don't hesitate to email me. Thanks, and God bless.